Cookie Banner Wiretapping Litigation and Consent Management Platform Failures: CIPA, FSCA, and ECPA Claims Against Malfunctioning and Misleading CMPs in 2026

Alan L. Friel, Partner | Squire Patton Boggs

Alan L. Friel is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs and Chair of the firm’s Data Privacy, Cybersecurity & Digital Assets Practice, based in Los Angeles. A nationally recognized thought leader at the intersection of law and technology, Alan brings more than three decades of experience advising clients on digital media, intellectual property, data privacy and protection, and consumer protection law. His distinctive blend of in-house leadership and private practice expertise enables him to deliver pragmatic, business-minded counsel to companies and entrepreneurs navigating the complex opportunities and risks created by disruptive technology.

• Education & Credentials

Alan holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law (1991) and a B.S. from Georgia State University (1988). He also completed the Executive Program in Management (EPM) at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2001. He is admitted to practice in California (1993) and New York (2002), as well as before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Alan is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

• Recognition & Leadership

Alan has been consistently honored by the legal industry’s most respected publications and organizations. He is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA for Nationwide Privacy & Data Security: Adtech (2023–2025) and has been recognized in Chambers USA for Nationwide Advertising: Transactional & Regulatory since 2019. His accolades include being named the 2026 Data Privacy Law Expert of the Year in California by Leaders in Law, a Los Angeles Times Legal Visionary (2022 and 2023), a National Law Journal Trailblazer for Media and Advertising Law (2023), one of the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers of Los Angeles (2023), and Privacy Lawyer of the Year (US) by Finance Monthly. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for Advertising Law, Media Law, and Privacy & Data Security Law, and has earned Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer recognition from 2022 through 2026. BTI Consulting Group has named him a Client Service All-Star, an honor reserved for lawyers who deliver the absolute best in client service. Additional distinctions include Legal 500 US recognition, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, and a Martindale-Avvo Superb Attorney Rating (2026). In a leadership capacity, Alan serves as Chair of The Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel’s Law Firm Advisory Board (2023–present) and previously chaired a global technology, media and telecommunications practice at another AmLaw 100 firm.

• Professional Involvement

Alan is deeply engaged in the legal and privacy communities. He serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Section and is a member of the Law360 Privacy and Consumer Protection Editorial Advisory Board and the Board of Editors for American Lawyer Media’s Internet Law and Strategy and Cybersecurity Law & Strategy publications. Within the IAPP, he served as former Chair of the Los Angeles County KnowledgeNet Chapter and founding Chair of the Orange County KnowledgeNet Chapter. His professional affiliations include the American Bar Association (Entertainment, Intellectual Property, and Advertising and Promotions Sections, and the Privacy, Internet, and Computer Industry Subcommittees), the New York Bar Association, the Association of National Advertisers (CCPA Working Group), the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) Supporter’s Council, and the Brand Activation Association’s Government Affairs Committee. He also serves as an ex officio Board Member of Zocalo Public Square and on the Cybersecurity Advisory Board of California State University – Chico. In academia, Alan is an Assistant Professor and Legal Advisory Board Member at the UCLA School of Film, Television and Digital Media, and an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Marymount University School of Law. He also helps supervise a clinical program at the University of California San Francisco Law (formerly Hastings) that provides pro bono legal services to non-profits and start-ups. A sought-after speaker and prolific author, Alan edits the Privacy and Data Protection chapter of the CCH and Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Compliance Handbook and regularly contributes to leading publications including Law360, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, and Data Guidance.

• Experience

Alan’s practice focuses on helping clients address the intersection of law, technology, and consumer protection. He counsels publishers, online services, advertisers, ad tech companies, marketing services providers, data brokers, e-commerce merchants, software and SaaS/PaaS providers, and other data controllers and processors on the full spectrum of privacy, cybersecurity, digital media, and intellectual property matters. In the privacy and data protection arena, Alan defends businesses before the FTC and state Attorneys General, including CCPA enforcement actions brought by the California Attorney General. He has guided hundreds of companies in developing, implementing, and maintaining privacy programs that comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), EU GDPR, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), HIPAA, and other federal and state regulatory requirements. He advises clients on proposed CCPA amendments and ballot measures and regularly files comments with the California Attorney General on rule-making. In advertising, marketing, and digital media, Alan has represented clients in shaping industry self-regulatory frameworks with organizations such as the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Network Advertising Alliance, the Association of National Advertisers, and the Digital Advertising Alliance. He advises major media conglomerates on data-driven marketing initiatives, streaming media providers on acquisitions and compliance, and social media platforms on intellectual property and user-generated content issues. His sports and entertainment experience includes negotiating television, film, and digital music distribution agreements; counseling an NFL team on marketing and privacy matters; representing major brands in sponsorships of national pop music tours; and successfully defending a leading influencer agency in an FTC investigation. Alan also advises on emerging issues related to artificial intelligence, targeted advertising, digital transformation, and data commercialization strategies. Alan began shaping law and public policy in digital media as the Sherwood Shafer Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union from 1992 to 1994, where he addressed the benefits and risks of the then-emerging Internet. He has served as general counsel and, before joining Squire Patton Boggs, held several leadership roles at other AmLaw 100 firms, including chairing a global technology, media and telecommunications practice and coordinating a consumer privacy practice.

Michael P. Burke, Partner | DarrowEverett LLP

Michael P. Burke is a Partner at DarrowEverett LLP and Chair of the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. With more than a decade of trial and arbitration experience in courts and arbitration venues across the country, Michael is a trusted advocate for clients facing high-stakes business disputes. His practice centers on partnership and contractual disputes, complex financial fraud, intellectual property, securities and consumer class actions, trade secret misappropriation, and governmental and internal investigations. Known for guiding clients efficiently from pre-litigation investigation through trial and appeal, Michael combines strategic judgment with a commitment to practical, economical resolutions.

• Education & Credentials

Michael earned his J.D., cum laude, from Boston University School of Law, where he served as Article Editor for the Journal of Science and Technology. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Government from Providence College. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

• Recognition & Leadership

Michael’s contributions to the litigation bar have earned him consistent recognition from the legal industry’s leading publications. He has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2024 and 2025 and was recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a 2024 Business Litigation Go-To Attorney. As Chair of DarrowEverett’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group, Michael provides firm-wide leadership on complex disputes and is a member of IR Global, an invitation-only network of elite advisors worldwide.

• Professional Involvement

Michael is actively engaged in the professional legal community. He serves on the Civil Litigation Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association and is a member of the Boston Bar Association. He is also a frequent author and thought leader on emerging litigation trends, with recent bylined pieces appearing in JD Supra and commentary featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and Authority Magazine. His writing addresses cutting-edge topics including tracking pixel litigation, CIPA mass arbitration defense strategies, Wiretap Act developments, and best practices for operating agreements.

• Experience

Michael represents businesses and individuals in a broad range of commercial and complex disputes, with particular depth in internet privacy litigation. In 2025 alone, he handled more than 60 matters involving alleged violations of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and other state privacy statutes. He defends companies in class actions and individual claims arising from wiretapping allegations and the use of website tracking technologies, including session replay software, chat widgets, analytics integrations, and tools such as Meta Pixel. Beyond the courtroom, Michael counsels clients on risk mitigation strategies and defends against claims that test the boundaries of rapidly evolving privacy frameworks. His broader litigation experience includes matters brought under the Lanham Act, the False Claims Act, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA), and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Representative outcomes include securing the dismissal of six of nine claims in a proposed class action in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington involving website tracking pixels and the alleged transmission of sensitive health information to third parties; obtaining a favorable pre-hearing arbitration ruling for a digital publisher on a choice-of-law provision, allowing the client to avoid substantial per-visit penalties under California’s Invasion of Privacy Act; negotiating a seven-figure buyout for a frozen-out shareholder of a renewable energy business; successfully resolving a complex construction dispute involving a commercial food processing facility and securing dissolution of multiple mechanic’s liens; vacating a judgment against a trucking company client based on insufficient service of process; and obtaining injunctive relief in Massachusetts Superior Court that led to a favorable settlement in a commercial ownership dispute. Prior to joining DarrowEverett, Michael was a litigation partner in the Boston office of an AmLaw 100 firm, where he built the foundation of his national trial and arbitration practice.

SESSION 1 – CMP Compliance: Audits, Consent, and Enforcement Risk | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session equips attorneys to build defensible CMP compliance programs, covering tag audits, vendor due diligence, consent log documentation, arbitration clause drafting, FTC and state UDAP dark pattern enforcement, GPC opt-out mandates, and January 2026 CCPA requirements.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Wiretap Claims and Claim-Stacking in CMP Litigation | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session examines how CMP malfunctions drive wiretap litigation under CIPA, Florida’s Security of Communications Act, and ECPA, and how misrepresented opt-outs fuel claim-stacking under UCL, FAL, FDUTPA, fraud, intrusion upon seclusion, and unjust enrichment theories.